insights

FINDING REAL PEOPLE:
We begin by identifying every single person who is online. We do this by proving which social handles are connected to real people and which are simply junk accounts. The way to prove if a social handle is connected to a real person is to append extra data next to a social handle, such as other social handles, emails, addresses, phone numbers, the social handles of family members, job titles/bios from social sites (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Vimeo). This is important because we want to analyze real human beings and their behaviors. The reason we want to study real people is to make accurate predictions about human behavior and the outcomes of behavior in different contexts. When we can predict behavior more accurately, then we are able to influence individuals, which is one of the ultimate end games of marketing, advertising and pubic relations.

SEGMENTING PEOPLE BY PERSONA/INTERESTS:
When we have a healthy set of columns with this kind of information, then we can move on to using tools that study all of the content posted by an individual, as well as the way the individual describes himself/herself in bios on various sites. We can also study posts about individuals, some of which may include video footage, images, interviews, and sites that denote achievement. This set of software studies all of this content about an individual and classifies him/her as a specific persona type, along with the interests this individual focuses on. This is important because we want to know more about the type of person each individual is and what influences his/her behavior.

DISCOVERING BRAND PREFERENCES/PURCHASING-BUYING STYLES:
The next set of software we use derives insight from offline data, such as the data from credit bureaus, credit card companies, direct marketing companies, catalogue marketing companies, club membership research, background checks, etc. When we blend offline data with online data, we are able to demonstrate with more confidence the brand preferences, purchasing-buying styles, and many other classifiers related to an individual. This is important because online conversations, posts, and self-description in bios do not always give us enough to deeply understand the behavior of individuals. The blending of offline and online data results in a more complete portrait of the individual human being.

WHAT DO WE DO WITH ALL OF THIS INFORMATION:
In short, we are able to more precisely influence what an individual human being will do in the future. For a brand, this long-term influence is very important as this will be how loyalty and sales are ensured. There are, of course, deeper goals for other organizations, such as governments, religious groups and media groups. These groups are often interested in wholesale culture change, particularly in enemy/competitive territory. The action of changing another culture is a top long term priority of groups that have been around far longer than the Unilevers and P&Gs of the world.

These are a few initial thoughts on the future of social data intelligence software.

We have reached the year when AI will have more influence upon social intelligence tools. What this means is that AI technologies will play a more significant role in producing insights from social data.

Analysts will continue to play a strong role in social data tools, with an increasing role in training “the machine”. What this means is that analysts will actively work with programmers to teach the machine how to do what they do.

The machine will improve on sentiment assessment but will not be 100% accurate during 2016. Analysts and machine learning experts will work hand-in-hand to improve this.

There will be an all-out fight related to privacy in the coming years, which will end in humans submitting all personally identifiable information (PII) in the interest of finding out more about themselves.The operating system from Spike Jonze’ film “Her” will become possible and will be so appealing that people will willingly submit their PII. This change in attitude to privacy will cause entities such as FullContact API to rise in importance. See this link for the “Installing Samantha” scene from the film “Her”, where Theodore installs the intelligent OS – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1AjtIAje3o

All known languages will be scanned by social media monitoring in the next three years.

The ability to run on-the-fly focus groups will also become an important aspect of the value proposition by social media monitoring tools. See this video on the subject: https://vimeo.com/143879132

1. Subscribe to a social media monitoring service with a very hefty set of data (i.e.- Brandwatch)

2. Create an accurate query within this monitoring solution related to your marketplace. Date this query back 24 months. The goal with this step is to discover the largest networks (pages, groups, authors) related to a marketplace.

3. Go to the Export function within the monitoring solution and export the entire data set related to your 24 month query. Every row.

4. Isolate ONLY the Twitter results in an Excel document. In addition, isolate ONLY the Facebook results (in Excel).

6. Download the Full Contact Person Enrichment Template (FCPET) from Full Contact API.

7. Set the Seed at 3 or above (in the FCPET document). Set the source to either Twitter Handle or Facebook ID.

8. Ensure you have a rock solid Internet connection.

9. Paste all Twitter handles from the data export into the first column of the FCPET document. Run the append.

10. Paste all FB handles from the data export into the first column of a second fresh FCPET document. Run the append.

11. Keep the results in the FCPET in exact order from the Brandwatch data export. This is so you can paste in a few columns from the Brandwatch export, such as sample mentions, account type (Individual or Organization), gender, etc.

12. Hire an analyst to meticulously go over the resulting spreadsheets and clean out the junk and spam authors. Use other tools, such as Melissa Data ( http://www.melissadata.com/ ) and Intelius ( https://www.intelius.com/ ) to append more data in additional columns.

13. Organize by Impact score (Brandwatch) or by Region or by any other criteria important to you (use the Data sort function in Excel to do this).

You can use the final sheet to plan content-marketing, derive insights on markets, and understand competitor activity. You can also determine the “real people” talking about your brand using this approach.

The purpose of this post is to outline a few best-practice actions as related to set-up and the early months of running a Social Media Command Center (SMCC) within a major brand headquarters. Such pilot programs demonstrate the types of insights and recommendations possible through the implementation of a SMCC.

First, let’s start with some definitions:

DEFINITIONS:

Social Media Command Center (SMCC) – A centrally located space where monitors (or signage screens), PCs and desks are configured for research of social data (and other data as prescribed) by in-house employees and 3rd party vendors. The SMCC provides a way to visualize data in various configurations relative to the needs of the corporation. The focus of research at a SMCC is social data.

The phrase “command center” has become common due to the central data research function relative to a brand’s outlets or regional offices. Insights and recommendations relative to past events, current initiatives and/or future opportunities are distributed from the command center.

A SMCC can be used for actions by various silos (upon approval). Such actions can include Marketing Campaign planning & engagement, PR response, HR discovery, Sales prospecting, Customer Service, Call Center integration, Competitive Intelligence, Customer Intelligence, company overview for the C-Suite and much more.

A fully realized SMCC is more than just a research center. The SMCC can be populated by representatives from each silo/department. The representatives can be authorized to take immediate action on critical issues. Policies can be put into place that give these representatives acceptable parameters for action and response.

For example, Customer Service representatives present within the early-stage SMCC can demonstrate an enhanced response time to resolving customer needs. Other names for a SMCC include Social Listening Center, Listening Center, Social Analytics Research Facility, Web Intelligence Center and Data Research Facility.

Social Data – Data specifically derived from the Internet and social networks, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, Pinterest, Slideshare, Instagram, blogs, online forums, websites, and other online communities/networks. The data is public information, meaning it can be accessed by anyone.

VALUE:
The value of a SMCC to a brand or corporation includes:

– provides the possibility to view all mentions of the brand online
– provides the possibility to view all mentions of competitors online
– provides the possibility to discover key influencers as related to the brand, market space and competitors
– provides the possibility to monitor actions by competitors online
– provides customer insights based on conversations online
– provides recommendations for action to be taken in multiple silos at the brand/corporation
– provides recommendations for research projects related to customers, competitors and corporate initiatives

SAMPLE RESEARCH PROJECT SUMMARIES:
The following sample projects demonstrate just a few types of research possible through the use of a SMCC.

Brand Audit – An overview of mentions and sentiment related to the brand. An overview related to brand initiatives using specific search terms. A comprehensive audit of where the brand is being mentioned and by whom. Discovery of key influencers driving opinion about the brand, the maret segment and competitors. A study of competitors’ to the brand and a comparison of mention volume, sentiment and other factors.

Product Launches – As specific new product lines are launched, the SMCC staff can provide key internal decision makers with valuable insights based on mentions.

Marketing Planning Projects – Planning as related to marketing can be enhanced through the use of a SMCC. Specific marketing projects can be created as a result of listening to customer and competitor conversations and noting trending topics. Creatives from the brand & third-party agencies can collaborate in a SMCC while viewing visualizations of mentions and complex query results.

Sales Prospecting Projects – Sales directors can discover prospects for sales teams, along with detailed on these prospects. A SMCC can be used by sales strategists to created finely segmented lists of prospects. The SMCC can also be used to gather and append valuable contact and demographic data to each individual prospect.

Example: Monitor specific regions and deliver B2B prospect lists to enterprise sales staff in those regions. This is based on conversations in those regions by ideal B2B prospects. Deliverable includes a list of B2B prospects in a region with appended contact/social data and intelligence on each prospect (why this is a good prospect for brand business services in that region, along with suggested ways to gain advantage with specific example). The ultimate goal with this project is to demonstrate the efficacy of social data in helping sales leaders close deals for brand Business Services.

Human Resources Discovery – Human Resources can quickly discover ideal candidates for positions within the corporation. Insights on employee sentiment within the brand can be delivered to HR from SMCC analysts. Insights on sentiment of employees at competitors can be delivered to HR also with the SMCC program.

Example: Identify lists of ideal prospects for specific positions at brand and/or brand franchises. Demonstrate how social data can yield ideal prospects for HR purposes. Monitor employee sentiment related to specific initiatives, discover ratings by ex-employees or current staff at sites like Glassdoor.com and LinkedIn.com. Monitor employee sentiment at competitors and discover opportunity for recruitment/head hunting/competitive intelligence. Monitor partners and vendors. Discover core differences between existing partners/vendors and their competitors.

PR Response – Analysts at the SMCC can provide valuable and quick insight into mentions of the brand online. Response times to positive or negative mentions online can be greatly reduced by having one central research hub. In addition, the ability to quickly visualize threats/opportunities, along with ability to append valuable conversation and contact data, will greatly enhance critical PR efficiency. Monitor “watchdog” reports related to specific products at brand.

Customer Service – Customer Service is perhaps the most valuable action within the SMCC. The ability to aggregate/analyze customer sentiment as demonstrated in online conversation and respond quickly to the needs of one’s customers is greatly enhanced in the context of the SMCC. Again, a fully realized SMCC is more than just a research center. The SMCC can be populated by representatives from each silo/department. The representatives can be authorized to take immediate action on critical issues. Policies can be put into place that give these representatives acceptable parameters for action and response. The Customer Service representatives present within the early-stage SMCC can demonstrate an enhanced response time to resolving customer needs.

Example: Monitor specific regions and/or locations for mentions and sentiment. Develop insights for these regions/franchisees on what customers/local inhabitants are saying about those store locations. Monitor mentions related to specific brand products and competitors’ products. Discover venues for providing swifter service, product complaints and other online arenas where brand brand word of mouth is spreading. Recommend specific programs or amendments to existing programs at the brand.

Competitive Intelligence – The SMCC can provide insights related to activities by competitors online, and also to the customers, vendors and employees of these competitors. As a sub-set of this research, we can monitor partners and vendors.